The N900 was the last phone to be designed for Maemo.
Android and Maemo are software platforms developed for mobile devices. Both are built on top of the Linux kernel and provide tools to developers for creating applications for their platforms. However, Android is an active project that is used on a variety of mobile devices. Maemo, on the other hand, is no longer under active development and its code has been incorporated into other projects to develop mobile platforms.
Android
Android is an open source operating system based on the Linux kernel that is targeted to run on smart phones and tablet computers. While the project is led by Google, the fact that Android is open source means that anyone can download the current version of the system's source code for educational purposes or to make contributions to the project. The software development kit (SDK) that Google releases to help programmers make apps for the platforms directly facilitates development in the Java language. Users can either load these apps onto their phones directly or download them through the centralized Android Market.
Maemo
Maemo is a project sponsored by Nokia to develop a platform based on Debian Linux for its mobile phones. While many components of the Maemo system are open source, many software components are proprietary. Proprietary tools from Nokia are necessary for developers to create apps for Maemo. The SDK for Maemo platform directly supports app development in C, but there are a variety of tools that can allow Maemo developers to use other languages. As of this writing, there was no central store or market program to collect Maemo apps for users to download.
Project Status
While Android is still sponsored by Google and is still being actively developed, the Maemo project is no longer actively supported by Nokia. In 2010, Maemo officially merged with Intel's developmental platform Moblin to create a new project: MeeGo. The purpose of MeeGo was to merge two similar projects to create a Linux-based platform for a variety of devices, from smart phones to smart TVs. However, in September 2011, MeeGo announced that it would be merging into the new Linux Foundation project similar to MeeGo, Tizen. Consequently, the project is no longer under active corporate development.
Availability
The Android operating system is available on a variety of phones across multiple carriers as well as multiple tablet devices. Nokia, on the other hand, has not produced phones designed for Maemo since its N900 model. Nokia moved its product development forward, making phones and devices for the MeeGo system. However, since the announcement of Tizen, Nokia has said that it would be moving forward with that project for its next generation of phones and devices.
Tags: open source, Android Maemo, Android open, Android open source, designed Maemo, Linux kernel, longer under